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- NEW DELHI - Biological
weapons that would attack one ethnic group but leave others untouched could
be available within ten years, according to a study released by the British
Medical Association (BMA). While the potential benefits of mapping the
human genome have been well publicised, BMA's latest book "Biotechnology,
Weapons and Humanity" provides evidence that "genetic research
creates the means of mass destruction of a horrifying nature", reports
PTI.
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- The Human Genome Project (HGP), to be completed in 2003,
is an internationally coordinated undertaking to sequence the 3000 million
DNA bases which consitute the human genome. This and a related study called
the Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP) are allowing the identification
of human genetic coding and differences in DNA, or the genetic material,
between different ethnic groups.
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- The BMA points out that if there are distinguishing DNA
sequences between groups, and if these can be targeted in a way that is
known to produce a harmful outcome, a genetic weapon is possible. Reviewing
the BMA study in a recent issue of Monash Bioethics Review, Jacinta Kerin
of the Murdoch Institute in UK says there is "an increasing concern
that advancing DNA technology enables devastating forms of biological warfare."
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